Biography of the Day: Sir Malcolm Sargent

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Sir Malcolm Sargent, in full Sir Harold Malcolm Watts Sargent, (born April 29, 1895, Stamford, Lincolnshire, Eng.—died Oct. 3, 1967, London), English conductor who, as Britain’s self-styled “ambassador of music,” toured throughout the world.

Sargent earned his diploma from the Royal College of Organists at 16 and in his early 20s became England’s youngest doctor of music. His debut came in 1921, when he conducted his own composition with Henry Wood’s Queen’s Hall Orchestra, and in 1923 he joined the staff of the Royal College of Music. He was chief conductor of the Robert Mayer children’s concerts the following year and mounted the Courtauld-Sargent concerts in 1929. Sir Thomas Beecham enlisted his help in the formation of the London Philharmonic in 1932. Appointments followed with the Hallé Orchestra (to 1942), the Liverpool Philharmonic (to 1948), and the BBC Symphony Orchestra (to 1957). He took charge of London’s Promenade Concerts from 1948 until his death. Sargent was unsurpassed as a choral conductor; he conducted the Royal Choral Society and the Huddersfield Choral Society for the better part of his performing life. He was also responsible for the premieres of several English operas. He was knighted in 1947.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Virginia Gorlinski